


Who Needs A Prince?

by Moon_The_Dragon



Category: Barbie - All Media Types, Barbie as The Princess and the Pauper (2004)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Childhood Friends, F/F, Fluff, Friends to Lovers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-18
Updated: 2020-08-18
Packaged: 2021-03-06 07:40:21
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,390
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25979875
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Moon_The_Dragon/pseuds/Moon_The_Dragon
Summary: Anneliese met Erika years ago when she came as an assistant to Madame Carp.They've been friends since.Note: this will probably be similar to another fanfic with this ship since it's slightly inspired by it.There's also going to be a reference to The Greatest Showman at the beginning too.
Relationships: Anneliese/Erika
Comments: 3
Kudos: 15





	1. Meeting

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Princess and the Pauper, Everyone is Bad at Money.](https://archiveofourown.org/works/25721824) by [SaDStrawberri_e](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SaDStrawberri_e/pseuds/SaDStrawberri_e). 

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anneliese meets Erika for the first time.

Anneliese was ten years old when she met Erika for the first time. 

It was during one of her mother's dress fittings. Most of Madame Carp's employees were sick with the flu, so she had to improvise. And she figured a ten-year-old kid couldn't do much damage.

Anneliese was in the room with her mother, taking etiquette lessons with her old tutor. She had already skipped the last few lessons, so her mother wanted to keep an eye on her.

It wasn't like she wasn't doing anything productive while she was skipping the classes. Honestly, the only reason why she skipped the classes was so that she could read the science textbooks in the royal library.

But her mother didn't see it like that. She only saw that Anneliese was ignoring her princess duties, which wasn't _entirely_ true. She was doing her tasks from a different angle.

It didn't matter anyway. Now she was stuck taking her lessons in one of the larger sitting rooms, working on how to hold and drink from a teacup. 

Anneliese could already feel her brain-numbing.

Madame Carp entered a couple of minutes after the lesson started, Erika trailing behind her, she was carrying all of Madame Carp's supplies. She also set up the area for Madame Carp. 

Madame Carp didn't even try to help her. She was more focused on sweet-talking the Queen to even notice to the poor girl was there at all. Anneliese only learned Erika's name when Madame Carp snapped at her to go faster. She felt terrible for her, but she didn't show it. After all, she was supposed to be focusing on her lesson.

But that didn't stop her from glancing over at Erika every once in a while. 

At one point, Erika caught her eye, and Anneliese's breath caught in her throat. They looked so similar. It was so strange. 

Anneliese tore her gaze away, trying to focus on what her tutor was teaching her. 

When she glanced back over at Erika, she was pretending to drink tea from a bowl-shaped tool. When she saw Anneliese looking, she smiled and waved. Then the tool broke, sending the contents inside, falling into her lap.

Erika's expression was priceless, and Anneliese spits the tea she was drinking out, bursting into a fit of giggles. 

That brought a smile to Erika's face, which soon faded as she felt Madam Carp's glare.

The Queen gave her daughter a stern look, then turned her gaze to Erika.

"I am so sorry for her, your Majesty." Madame Carp said, sneering at Erika. "I would have brought someone more... _professional._ But I'm a little short-staffed."

Erika curled in on herself, looking down at her clasped hands.

"I'll make sure she never-" Before Madame Carp could finish, Anneliese stood up, cutting her off.

"Wait! No! It wasn't her fault!" She said quickly, not wanting Erika to get punished for something she did.

Erika gave her a small, grateful smile.

"I brought you here to stop you from getting distracted. This girl is distracting you." The Queen said calmly.

Anneliese scrambled for something to say. "I-I wasn't even laughing at her, though! I was laughing at a bird that flew into the wall!"

Everything was silent for a moment, then the Queen sighed. "Fine. If you say so, my dear. But if you get distracted again, I'm going to send her out."

Anneliese nodded quickly. "Yes, Mother." She sat back down and listened to her tutor.

Madame Carp still looked skeptical, but reluctantly went back to work.

The rest of the time was uneventful. Anneliese finished before Madame Carp did. But she stayed in the room even after the tutor left. 

"Excuse me, Madame Carp?" Anneliese started, waiting for Madame Carp to look at her before continuing. "May I borrow Erika for the rest of the time you're here? Surely an experienced seamstress like you can handle the rest without help."

Erika was confused as to why the _Princess_ wanted to hang out with her. But she wasn't about to object and waste an opportunity to get away from Madame Carp.

Madame Carp was at a loss for words, but luckily(or unluckily), the Queen spoke up instead.

"Are you sure that id a good idea, dear? You still have so much to do." She stated.

Anneliese shook her head. "But I don't, Mother. That was the last thing I had to do today. Please?"

The Queen sighed, shaking her head. "Alright, only if Madame Carp allows it, though."

Both Erika and Anneliese turned to see what Madame Carp would say.

Madame Carp, never one to refuse a royal, caved in with a small sigh. "Alright. Fine. However, I expect you to be back at the carriage in two hours, Erika." 

Erika nodded quickly. "Yes, Madame Carp!" 

Anneliese smiled and grabbed Erika's hand, gently dragging her out the door.

"Thank you for saving me back there, your highness," Erika said after they were far enough away from the adults.

"Please, Call me Anneliese. And it was no problem. It isn't your fault that your face was so funny." She laughed.

Erika rolled her eyes playfully. "It couldn't have been _that_ funny."

"But it was!" Anneliese replied, coming to a stop outside her room. She opened the doors and walked in, waving Erika in as well.

Erika looked around the room in shock. She could fit Madame Carp's entire shop in this room and have room to spare. "Wow... Its so.." She couldn't finish her sentence.

Anneliese giggled. "Come on, don't tell me you haven't seen a bedroom before." She sat down on her bed, patting the spot next to her.

"Not one this big," Erika replied, hesitantly sitting next to Anneliese.

"I guess it is pretty big. But that means I have a lot of room to dance around if I want to!" Anneliese said, then paused for a moment. "Sorry If I'm too chatty, it's been a while since I've met someone my age."

Erika waved her off. "It's fine. I get it. I don't get to meet a lot of kids my age, either."

Anneliese had a puppy dog grin on her face. "So... Tell me about yourself..."

They spent the rest of their time talking and laughing with each other. But unfortunately, the two hours had gone by super quickly.

They walked together to the carriage.

"Where do you live? I want to be able to send you a letter." Anneliese asked as they got near the carriage.

Erika told her where she lived, then looked at Anneliese with a bright smile. "I had a lot of fun today, Princess." 

"I had fun as well; I hope to see you again," Anneliese said, smiling back at her.

"I hope so too. See you!" Erika said, climbing into the carriage.

Madame Carp came stomping out a moment later, carrying all of the stuff she had Erika bring in. She loaded it up and jumped into the carriage, not even acknowledging Anneliese.

The Princess waved to the carriage as it left.

She was glad that her mother insisted on Anneliese having her lesson with her now. 

She made a new friend out of it.


	2. The Princess

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> NOTE: This chapter isn't edited as I don't have access to my computer yet. I will come back and edit it later.  
> So if it sounds weird, it might get better.

Anneliese and Erika grew closer as time went on. They saw each other every week when Anneliese's schedule would allow. Madame Carp was not happy with this, but who was she to refuse _royalty_? And, as an added plus, it got that brat out of her hair.

The staff could always tell the day that Erika would come. Anneliese had a skip in her step for a full day before Erika came, and she would always try to get her work done so that she could have a free day to spend with her friend.

Anneliese met Julian a year after she and Erika met. Her mother thought that having a younger tutor would make it easier for her daughter to pay attention to the lessons.

She was right; Anneliese focused more on her lessons. But she was focusing more on Jullian than her studies. She had an instant crush on him and would talk to Erika for hours about him.

Hearing Anneliese talk so much about Julian left an uneasy feeling in the pit of Erika's stomach. But, she ignored it. It wasn't her place to tell the princess who to talk or not talk about. Even if it did make Erika want to tear her hair out after weeks of hearing nothing but what Julian was teaching her.

But then Anneliese's father died a couple of years later, and she was a mess. Julian tried to comfort her as best he could, but nothing he did seemed to help.

From the moment she stepped into the castle, Erika knew something was wrong. News of the King's death hadn't been spread past the castle yet, so she had no idea what was wrong, but she could feel it. That made her practically run to Anneliese's room, out of fear that something had happened to her.

She only remembered to knock at the last second, impatiently waiting for a "Come in." When she heard the voice of a man reply and not Anneliese, she practically threw the door open.

Erika felt immediate relief once she saw Anneliese, but it only lasted a second before the anxiety came back. Julian was hugging Anneliese, who looked numb. He stared up at Erika, then relaxed, and walked away from Anneliese and up to Erika.

"Her father just died." Julian whispered to her, a downcast look on his face, "She hasn't said a word since she heard the news."

Erika didn't say anything. She walked over and sat down next to Anneliese. She didn't say or do anything other than that, not wanting to make Anneliese uncomfortable.

Anneliese felt Erika's presence next to her and make eye contact, and the moment she did, she felt her walls finally break. Anneliese fell into Erika, burying her face in the crook of her neck.

"He's gone," Anneliese said, her voice cracking. "He's really gone."

Erika wrapped her arms securely around Anneliese and let her cry and rant and anything else that she needed to do while running a calming hand through her hair.

They fell asleep like that, curled up against each other.

It was the first time Erika stayed the night. 

Erika stayed for a few more days before going back to the city, staying by Anneliese's side the whole time.

It took a while for things to get back to 'normal.' Anneliese wasn't smiling as often as she once did. It was getting harder and harder to get her to smile.

So, whenever she did smile, Erika took it as a personal victory.

It eventually got better, though. Anneliese was acting more like her old self after a few months.

Then, Erika's parents died. It was sudden. They got caught in the middle of a carriage accident. No one survived.

Erika was crushed, but what made it even worse was that Madame Carp was bearing down on her, wanting the debt to be paid, but also wanting a servent even more.

Anneliese was confused when Erika didn't come to the castle. But, she chalked it up to Erika being busy helping her parents and sent her a letter.

She started to get scared after weeks went by, not hearing from Erika. She stopped focusing on her lessons and stopped doing her duties.

Anneliese was about to request her mother to let her go down to the city to check on her after another week with no contact when Erika walked into her room.

She looked exhausted, there were deep bags under her eyes, and her hair was a complete mess. 

That didn't matter to Anneliese, though. She was too worried about Erika.

"What happened? Where were you?" She demanded, standing up and walking quickly over to Erika. "I was so worried about you! I-"

Erika put up a hand to silence Anneliese, which no one but the Queen has done. But, Anneliese was too shocked to object to it, not that she would have anyway. She liked it when Erika didn't treat her like a princess.

Erika hesitated before responding. "My.. My parents are dead." She said, looking down at the ground.

Anneliese's jaw dropped, and she scrambled for something to say, to apologize. But Erika continued talking.

"Madame Carp had me working for her to make up for their debt. I might have to miss a few more of our meetings." She said, giving Anneliese an apologetic look.

Anneliese tried not to let her disappointment show on her face. She understood that Erika couldn't be with her all the time, but she was going to miss seeing her all the time.

Anneliese's princess training kicked in, and she stood up straight, masking any emotion she was feeling. "Very well. Thank you for informing me."

This didn't fool Erika in the slightest, but she didn't say anything. Instead, she took a deep breath and smiled. "I can stay the rest of the day, though, and I'll even let you do my hair since I was gone for so long."

Anneliese perked up instantly. Usually, Erika was stubborn about her hair, not letting anyone else touch it. So, Anneliese acted quickly before Erika could change her mind, dragging her over to a chair and sitting her down. "Let's see...." 

Anneliese spent most of the day doing Erika's hair into different styles the servents had taught her, talking the whole time.

She got used to getting letters from Erika when she couldn't make it to the palace.

But what surprised Anneliese is when she started getting flowers as well, more specifically, a blue rose.

Every time she received one, Anneliese sent a pink rose back. It was like their own secret code that only they knew.

Anneliese kept the blue roses in a vase by her bed and tried to keep them alive as long as she could. It was like having Erika right next to her all the time.

Time went on, and Erika and Anneliese saw each other less and less, but still kept in touch.

Anneliese was nineteen when her mother gave her the news.

She sent for Erika right away with a heavy heart.

If anyone could make her feel better, it was Erika.

**Author's Note:**

> Constructive critisism appreciated


End file.
